I didn’t want my daughters to be afraid of the deep end, so with each I played Shamu the whale. My daughter would be the trainer. I would be Shamu. She would pinch her nose and put her arm around my neck, then down we would go. Deep, deep, deep until we could touch the bottom of the pool. Then up we would explode, breaking the surface. After several plunges they realized they had nothing to fear. They feared no evil. Why? Because I was with them.

And when God calls us into the deep valley of death, he will be with us. Dare we think that he would abandon us in the moment of death? Would a father force his child to swim the deep alone? Would the shepherd require his sheep to journey to the highlands alone? Of course not. Would God require his child to journey to eternity alone? Absolutely not! He is with you!

What God said to Moses, he says to you: “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest” (Exod. 33:14 NIV).

What God said to Jacob, he says to you: “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you g.” (Gen 28:15 NIV)

What God said to Joshua, he says to you: “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Josh. 1:5 NIV).

What God said to the nation of Israel, he says to you: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you” (Isa. 43:2 NIV).

The Good Shepherd is with you. And because he is with you, you can say what David said: “I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”

Traveling Light, Max Lucado, 2001, W Publishing Group, Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved.